The 30th annual Charles Dickens Festival takes over Port Jefferson Village on December 5 and 6, 2026. It is the best-known date of the village's holiday season, but the season runs much longer. Theatre Three raises the curtain on A Christmas Carol on November 7, and the harbor rink keeps going until March 14, 2027. That makes the holidays here about four months long, and the festival weekend lands just four weeks in.
For someone who lives a few blocks from East Main Street, that changes the planning. The parades pull the biggest crowds. The lowest ticket prices fall in the weeks before them, and the rink keeps running for more than three months after.
The Season on One Calendar
Here is everything confirmed so far, as of mid-October 2026:
| Date | What | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Nov. 7 – Dec. 27, 2026 | A Christmas Carol, adapted by Jeffrey Sanzel | Theatre Three |
| Nov. 27, 2026 – Mar. 14, 2027 | Outdoor public skating | The Rinx at Harborfront Park |
| Fri., Dec. 4, 6:00–8:30 p.m. | Resident Night and Lantern Dedication | Port Jefferson Village Center |
| Sat., Dec. 5, 11:00 a.m. | Grand East Main Street Opening Parade | East Main Street |
| Sun., Dec. 6, 5:00 p.m. | Pickwick's Puppet Parade, closing the festival | Village streets |
| Dec. 5–6 | Street plays, carolers, Tiny Tim's Train Station, Santa Claus Central | Throughout the village |
The festival weekend covers two days of a calendar that spans more than four months. The play and the rink both run straight through it.
November Is the Cheapest Month at Theatre Three
Theatre Three's A Christmas Carol runs from November 7 through December 27, 2026. The show lasts two hours with a 15-minute intermission, and every evening performance starts at 7 p.m. so families can bring kids. The Theatre Three listing prices adult tickets at $45. Seniors 65 and older and students 13 and older pay $36. Children 5 to 12 pay $30, and children under five aren't admitted.
Two discounts sit on top of those prices. Wednesday matinees are $30, and every November performance is $30 for everyone. That makes an adult seat $15 cheaper in November than in December. For two adults and two children between 5 and 12, it's $120 in November against $150 for a regular December performance. Seniors save $6 a seat.
The calendar adds a second reason to go early. In December, the run overlaps the festival weekend, when the village fills with visitors. Most festival activities are free, but Newsday's coverage of the 2024 festival listed Theatre Three among the paid exceptions, along with events at the Masonic Lodge. In November, the same show costs less and comes without the festival crowds.
The Rink Opens the Day After Thanksgiving
The Village of Port Jefferson calendar lists Friday, November 27, 2026 as opening day for outdoor skating at The Rinx at Harborfront Park, with the season running through March 14, 2027. That puts the rink open one week before Resident Night and keeps it open more than ten weeks after the last Christmas Carol performance.
The Rinx's Port Jefferson page posts these admission prices:
- Weekdays: $14 adults, $6 seniors, $12 children 11 and under
- Weekends and school vacations: $16 adults, $7 seniors, $13 children 11 and under
- Friday and Saturday nights: $17
- Skate rental: $8
With rental, a weekday session costs an adult $22 and a Saturday night session costs $25. Weekday sessions run Monday through Thursday at 12:00, 2:00, 4:00 and 6:30, each about 90 minutes. Friday and Saturday nights add an 8:00–10:00 session. The page gives no separate price for village residents, and it says the schedule and prices can change without notice, so check it before heading over. The Rinx is also one of the festival's major sponsors this year.
Friday, December 4, Is Set Aside for the Village
The festival weekend begins the night before the public crowds arrive. The Greater Port Jefferson Arts Council's festival page says festivities start Friday, December 4 with the traditional Lantern Dedication and the annual Village Residents' Night at the Port Jefferson Village Center. The village calendar lists Resident Night from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m.
Neither listing explains what happens during the evening or what you'd need to show to get in. The village held Resident Night in the same 6:00–8:30 p.m. slot before last year's festival, and a 2024 Patch post about student performers at that year's festival mentions both Residents' Night and the Lantern Dedication. So it's an established tradition. If you plan to go, the village office is the place to ask about entry details.
The Festival Weekend, and How It Got Here
The 2026 festival is a production of the Port Jefferson Arts Council, working with the Incorporated Village of Port Jefferson and presented by Northwell Mather Hospital. That arrangement is fairly new. TBR News Media's coverage of the 2023 festival described it as put on by the Village and the Arts Council together, with Mayor Lauren Sheprow crediting the Arts Council's work. By 2024, Greater Long Island was calling the Arts Council the producer. On November 20, 2024, the Village Board unanimously approved an event permit application filed on behalf of the Greater Port Jefferson Arts Council to use village-owned property for the festival.
Since then, each year has added a new attraction at the Village Center. In 2024, Newsday reported the arrival of Dickens Central, with four oversized Christmas Carol ghosts, a six-foot Dickens photo and a walk-in snow globe, along with Mrs. Cratchit's Craftworks and ElfWorks. In 2025, the Charles Dickens Creative Study brought puppets of the three Christmas ghosts into a Christmas Carol setting, and Arts Council chair Allan Varela told TBR the two-day festival drew more than 10,000 people a day.
For 2026, the Arts Council promises "spectacular new additions." As of October 12, its page still reads "Event Schedule Coming in October!" and doesn't name the additions. These parts are confirmed:
- Saturday, 11:00 a.m.: the Grand East Main Street Opening Parade starts the weekend.
- Both days: Dickens street characters perform street plays, carolers walk the village, and Tiny Tim's Train Station and Santa Claus Central are open. Restaurants serve Dickens-inspired dishes.
- Getting in: a shuttle bus runs from outlying parking lots into the village.
- Sunday, 5:00 p.m.: Pickwick's Puppet Parade closes the festival.
Last year's prices give a rough guide to what might cost money. Newsday's 2025 guide called the festival free overall but listed some fees: $5 to visit Mrs. Claus, $7 for the magic show and $25 for Fezziwig's dance party. Those are 2025 prices, and the 2026 schedule may change them.
After the Parades
Pickwick's Puppet Parade wraps up the festival on Sunday evening, but the season keeps going. A Christmas Carol has three more weeks of performances, through December 27. The rink at Harborfront Park stays open through New Year's and all of winter, with weekday adult admission at $14 until March 14, 2027. That is fourteen more weeks of skating after the parades end.
If a December evening on East Main Street has you wondering what living within walking distance of the parade route would look like, Kate Works knows Port Jefferson Village street by street and can show you what's available near the harbor. Start your Long Island home search with a local guide who already has December 4 on the calendar.
